May 10, 2013

Kansas designates Native American Day

By Caitlin DoornbosSB 111 designates the first Wednesday in February as “Native American Day at the Capitol,” during which tribes will come to the Statehouse to meet with legislators.

It also changes the name of the statewide holiday honoring Native Americans each fourth Saturday in September. “American Indian Day,” created in 1945, will now be known as “Native American Day.” Tribal leaders from across Kansas huddled around the governor at the ceremonial signing of the bill.

“I’ve learned so much about Native Americans and how they’ve contributed to the state,” Faust-Goudeau said. “I think it’s only fitting to have a day here at our state Capitol.”

Both bills made their way to the governor after passing unanimously in the Senate, a feat uncommon for legislation introduced by a Democrat.Comment: Reader DMarks likes to note how conservative Sam Brownback has championed Native causes--such as the buried US apology to Indians. He claims this proves conservatives support Indians just as much as liberals.

But read what the article says. Democrats introduced and championed the legislation. Brownback merely signed it.

And as far as I can, the main change is to the day's name. The holiday itself has been around since 1945.

So both parties have merely signed off on a cosmetic change. Anything more presumably would've been too much.

Yet it required Democrats to push through this inconsequential achievement. Left to their own devices, conservatives wouldn't have done even this much.

That tells you something about which party is more pro-Indian. Not that there's any doubt.

1 comment:

With the Scott Brown incident having happened, you are more right than you were before. But based on that, not this article. In this post, you have liberals and conservatives uniting to make this happen, which hardly adds any fuel to the fires of demonizing one side or the other.

Good bill, though probably inconsequential as you said. Good is not the word for the other bill, which was a push to put dangerous illegal drivers on the roads.